Generally, in a case when nobody controls a vehicle because no driver is in the vehicle or the vehicle carries out autonomous driving and/or parking though a driver in the vehicle, a pedestrian near to the vehicle may not predict a traveling direction of the vehicle so that she or he may feel queasy about the vehicle.
When a vehicle is driven by a driver, a pedestrian can communicate with the driver through a hand signal or eye contact so that each of the driver and the pedestrian recognizes each other. Accordingly, the pedestrian can believe that the driver considers the pedestrian to drive the vehicle safely. Commonsensically, the pedestrian and the driver may have a psychological trust relationship with each other to thereby avoid a collision and secure driving safety.
However, in cases when vehicles are controlled by an unmanned steering, a remote steering, and an autonomous driving, it might be not possible to confirm whether the vehicles are aware of a pedestrian. When there is no driver, the pedestrian has no the other party who can communicate with the pedestrian. Further, even if there is a driver in the vehicle, the pedestrian may not confirm whether the driver recognizes the pedestrian because the driver doesn't care about driving.
In situations described above, the pedestrian can feel uneasy and distrust an autonomous driving vehicle. A pedestrian's anxiety or apprehension may cause her or his accidental acts or movement which the autonomous driving vehicle cannot predict or cope with based on its algorithm. This phenomenon may increase uncertain factors for achieving autonomous driving, and driving safety of the autonomous driving vehicle would be decreased.
Accordingly, an autonomous driving vehicle might be required to inform a pedestrian of its driving status, which includes that the autonomous driving vehicle recognizes the pedestrian and the autonomous driving vehicle safely controlled by its algorithm or function can respond to the pedestrian, in order to provide the pedestrian with information about moving direction and speed of the vehicle as well as driving safety or stability. It is required to develop a technology that could improve reliability between a pedestrian and an autonomous driving vehicle and secure safety by inducing predictable movement from each other.
The disclosure of this section is to provide background of the invention. Applicant notes that this section may contain information available before this application. However, by providing this section, Applicant does not admit that any information contained in this section constitutes prior art.